Berakhot 60b (ס:) — the Talmud in English

One who enters a lavatory says

to the angels who always accompany him [as it is stated: “For He will command His angels concerning you”]:

“Give honor, honored ones, holy servants of the Most High; give honor to the God of Israel,

and do not diminish your own honor by entering the lavatory with me. Although God commanded you to guard me, I absolve you of this obligation, and therefore

leave me until I enter, do what I need to do, and return [

go back]

to you.”

Abaye said: A person should not say this [“

leave me,” etc.’ ], because there is concern

perhaps

they will leave him

the angels

and go,

and they will not guard him from harmful spirits in the lavatory, nor will they return afterward to accompany him.

Rather, he should say

the following:

“Guard me, guard me;

help me, help me;

support me, support me; wait for me, wait for me, until I enter and leave,” [

in accordance with]

for this is

the

way of human beings [

who need to relieve themselves].

When he leaves

the lavatory,

he says: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who formed man with wisdom,

and created within him many openings,

many hollows [

sealed all around],

it is revealed and known before the Throne of Your glory

that if one of them were opened [

of the sealed hollows, such as the heart or the stomach],

or if one of them were closed [

of the openings, such as the mouth, the nose, or the anus] ,

it would be impossible to stand before You.”

And with what does he conclude

this blessing?

Rav said:

“Blessed are You”:

‘Who heals the sick.’”

Shmuel said:

With this concluding formula,

his father [

Rav]

made everyone sick [

ill]. Since this is not the case,

rather

he should conclude: “Blessed are You”:

‘Who heals all flesh.’”

For elimination is the healing of the entire body.

Rav Sheshet said:

He should conclude: “Blessed are You”:

‘Who performs wonders.’”

Because the body is hollow like a wineskin. A wineskin with a hole cannot retain air within it, while the human body was created with many openings and nevertheless retains the spirit within it; this is a wonder and a display of wisdom .

Rav Pappa said: Therefore, let us say both of them,

and he should conclude: “Blessed are You”:

‘Who heals all flesh and performs wonders.’”

One who enters to sleep

at night

in his bed

says

the recitation of the Shema upon the bed, and this is its order:

from “Hear, O Israel” through “And it will be, if you obey,” and

afterward

he says

“Blessed is He Who causes the bonds of sleep

to fall upon my eyes, and slumber upon my eyelids,

and illuminates the pupil of the eye

. May it be Your will, Lord my God, that You lay me down in peace, and grant me my portion in Your Torah,

and accustom me to fulfill mitzvot, and do not accustom me to transgression, and do not bring me

not

to sin or to iniquity,

or to temptation, or to disgrace. May the good inclination rule over me,

the

evil inclination not rule over me, and save me from an evil mishap

and from serious illnesses. Let neither bad dreams nor bad thoughts frighten me, and may my bed be perfect before You [

so that there will be no disqualified or wicked offspring among my descendants],

and enlighten my eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death. Blessed are You, Lord, Who illuminates

the entire world with His glory.”

Order of the morning blessings:

When he awakens

from his sleep,

he says: “My God,

the soul that You have given me is pure.

You created it within me; You breathed it into me;

and You preserve it within me;

and You are destined to take it from me and restore it to me in the future. As long as the soul is within me, I give thanks before You, Lord my God and God of

my fathers, Master of all the worlds, Lord of all souls. Blessed are You, Lord, Who restores souls to lifeless bodies.”

When he hears the voice of a rooster,

let him say: “Blessed are You ...

Who has given

the rooster

rooster

understanding, to distinguish between day and night.”

When he opens

his

eyes,

let him say: “Blessed are You, Who opens the eyes of the blind.”

When he straightens

[when he sits upright]

and sits, let him say: “Blessed are You, Who releases the bound.”

When he puts on

his garments,

let him say: “Blessed are You, Who clothes the naked.”

When he straightens himself, let him say: “Blessed are You, Who straightens the bent.”

When he descends to the ground

and places his foot on the earth,

let him say: “Blessed are You, Who spreads out the earth over the waters.”

When he walks

[when he begins to take steps],

let him say: “Blessed are You, Who prepares the steps of man” .

When he finishes putting on his shoes

[when he puts on his shoes],

let him say: “Blessed are You, Who has provided me with all that I need.”

When he girds his loins

[when he fastens his belt],

let him say: “Blessed are You, Who girds Israel with strength.”

When he spreads a scarf

over his head, let him say: “Blessed are You, Who crowns Israel with glory.”

When he wraps himself in tzitzit, let him say: “Blessed are You, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to wrap ourselves in tzitzit.”

When he places tefillin on his arm

[his forearm],

let him say: “Blessed are You, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to put on tefillin.”

And when he puts tefillin

on his head, let him say: “Blessed are You, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning the mitzva of tefillin.”

When he washes

[takes]

his hands,

let him say: “Blessed are You, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning the washing of the hands.”

When he washes his face

[when he washes his face],

let him say: “Blessed are You, Who removes the bonds of sleep from my eyes and slumber from my eyelids. May it be Your will, Lord my God, that You accustom me

to Your Torah and bind me to Your commandments; and do not bring me into the power of sin, nor into the power of iniquity, nor into the power of trial, nor into the power of disgrace; and bend my inclination to be subjugated to You.

Keep me far from an evil person and from an evil companion. Bind me to the good inclination and to a good companion in Your world. Grant me today and every day favor, kindness

and mercy in Your eyes and in the eyes of all who see me, and bestow upon me good acts of kindness.

Blessed are You, Lord, Who bestows good acts of kindness

upon His people Israel.”

We learned in the Mishna:

A person is obligated to bless

for the bad, just as he blesses for the good.

The Gemara discusses this:

What is the meaning of “A person is obligated to bless for the bad, just as he blesses for the good”?

If you say that just as for the good he recites “Who is good and does good,” so too for the bad he recites “Who is good and does good,”

that cannot be the meaning, because

we learned: “For good tidings he says “Blessed is

the

One Who is good and does good,”

but

for bad tidings he says, “Blessed is the Judge of truth.”

Rava said: It was necessary

for our Mishna to teach

only

that one must

accept

the bad tidings

with joy

and bless over them wholeheartedly, just as he blesses over good tidings.

Rabbi Aha said in the name of Rabbi Levi: From where

do we learn that one should bless in this manner for the bad? — “A psalm of David. A song of kindness

and justice I shall sing; to You, Lord, I shall sing praise.” This means that whether You show kindness toward me or execute justice upon me [that is, bring calamity], I shall sing to You.

Its meaning is that whether You act toward me with kindness or deal with me in justice [that is, with suffering], I shall sing to You.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani said: From here

they learned that one should bless in this manner for the bad:

“In the Lord I shall praise the word; in God I shall praise the word.”

And they expounded it:

“In the Lord I shall praise the word

—this is a measure of goodness,

for the Name Havaya indicates the attribute of kindness. And

“in God I shall praise the word”—

a measure of calamity,

because “God” signifies “Judge,” referring to the attribute of justice. David says that whether He measures out to him the attribute of kindness or measures out to him the attribute of justice, he must praise the Holy One, blessed be He.

Rabbi Tanhum said: From here

they learned that one should bless in this manner for the bad, as it is stated:

“I shall lift the cup of salvations and call upon the Name of the Lord,”

and earlier it is stated:

“I found trouble and sorrow, and I called upon the Name of the Lord,”

to teach that even in a time of trouble and sorrow one must call upon the Name of the Lord with joy, just as in a time of salvation.

And the Rabbis say: From here

they learned that one should bless in this manner for the bad, as it is stated:

“The Lord has given and the Lord has taken; may the Name of the Lord be blessed,”

meaning that one must bless for what is taken just as for what is given.

Rav Huna said in the name of Rav in the name of Rabbi Meir, and likewise it was taught in the name of Rabbi Akiva: A person should always accustom himself to say: “Whatever the Merciful One does, He does for the good.”

This is like the case of Rabbi Akiva, who was traveling on the road.

When he reached a certain city, he requested lodging

[he asked for accommodations]

but they did not give him any. He said: “Whatever

the

Merciful One does, He does for the good”;

he does.

He went and lodged in the field [

where he spent the night in the field],

and a rooster was with him [

to awaken him from his sleep],

and a donkey and a lamp [

a lamp],

a wind came [

wind] and

extinguished the lamp; a cat came and ate the rooster; a lion came

and

ate the donkey

. He said

Rabbi Akiva:

“Everything that the Merciful One does, for good

he does”.

That night [

on that same night],

a troop came [

a troop of enemies] and

captured the

residents of

the town

in captivity,

he said to them

Rabbi Akiva said to his attendants: Is it not the case that

I told you: Everything that the Holy One, blessed be He, does, it is all

for

good!?

For had I found lodging in the city, I would have gone into captivity together with all the inhabitants of the city; and had the lamp been burning, the troop would have seen me and captured me; and likewise, had the donkey brayed or the rooster crowed, the troop would have come and captured me.